The US-DOE Bioenergy Science Center (BESC): Findings and Perspectives

The BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) has focused on understanding lignocellulosic biomass formation and deconstruction en route to the production of biofuels. This deeper understanding of plant cell wall structure and the biological mechanism for efficient depolymerization and fermentation was necessary to provide the underpinnings to “overcome biomass recalcitrance” – the central theme of BESC.

This special issue of Biotechnology for Biofuels is being prepared after a decade of BESC research. Among its over two dozen articles, it features both review articles as well as current topical presentations illustrative of current BESC research. Broader papers include an overview of the ten-years of BESC research and its mission and top accomplishments (Gilna et al.), as well as articles on the insights gained regarding the role and formation of xylan (Urbanowicz et al.).

The targeted research articles cover the range of BESC research. For example, elucidation of the functions of plant biosynthesis genes, and extension from the laboratory to successful field testing of improved plant lines (Kumar et al., Johnson et al.; Macaya-Sanz et al.), are included in this special issue. The impacts of altered plant cell wall composition on structure and conversion are featured in several articles (Harman-Ware et al.; Ding et al.; Kumar et al.). Examples of studies of hydrolytic enzymes (e.g., cellulase) are shown for thermophiles (Brunecky et al.) and oxidative enzymes (Kruer-Zerhusen et al.) are also included. The drive for improved conversion utilizing consolidated bioprocessing examines the impacts of toxicity (Wilbanks et al.) and high biomass loadings (Verbeke et al.). There are also examples of metabolic engineering (Zheng et al.; Eminoglu et al.) as well as ‘omic’ studies (Sander et al.).

Most of these contributions draw on participants from multiple BESC partner institutions, which showcases the collaborative impacts of a multi-institutional center, critical for accelerating research in bioenergy. Over the course of its decade long tenure, BESC researchers contributed 945 papers in peer reviewed journals and inspired countless beginning- and early-career scientists to enter the bioenergy field.

Lignin is a natural polymer that is interwoven with cellulose and hemicellulose within plant cell walls. Due to this molecular arrangement, lignin is a major contributor to the recalcitrance of plant materials...

Thermophilic microorganisms and their enzymes offer several advantages for industrial application over their mesophilic counterparts. For example, a hyperthermophilic anaerobe, Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, was re...

The development of fast-growing hardwood trees as a source of lignocellulosic biomass for biofuel and biomaterial production requires a thorough understanding of the plant cell wall structure and function that...

Domain of Unknown Function 231-containing proteins (DUF231) are plant specific and their function is largely unknown. Studies in the model plants Arabidopsis and rice suggested that some DUF231 proteins act in...

The mission of the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) was to enable efficient lignocellulosic-based biofuel production. One BESC goal was to decrease poplar and switchgrass biomass recalcitrance to biofuel conver...

Plant cell walls contribute the majority of plant biomass that can be used to produce transportation fuels. However, the complexity and variability in composition and structure of cell walls, particularly the ...

Xylan is a major hemicellulosic component in the cell walls of higher plants especially in the secondary walls of vascular cells which are playing important roles in physiological processes and overall mechani...

Glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 48 is an understudied and increasingly important exoglucanase family found in the majority of bacterial cellulase systems. Moreover, many thermophilic enzyme systems contain GH4...

Auxiliary activity (AA) enzymes are produced by numerous bacterial and fungal species to assist in the degradation of biomass. These enzymes are abundant but have yet to be fully characterized. Here, we report...

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) by anaerobes, such as Clostridium thermocellum, which combine enzyme production, hydrolysis, and fermentation are promising alternatives to historical economic challenges of using...

The development of genome editing technologies offers new prospects in improving bioenergy crops like switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Switchgrass is an outcrossing species with an allotetraploid genome (2n = 4x =...

Understanding plant cell wall cross-linking chemistry and polymeric architecture is key to the efficient utilization of biomass in all prospects from rational genetic modification to downstream chemical and bi...

One of the major barriers to the development of lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of plant cell walls to deconstruction and saccharification. Recalcitrance can be reduced by targeting genes invol...

Genetic engineering has been effective in altering cell walls for biofuel production in the bioenergy crop, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). However, regulatory issues arising from gene flow may prevent commercial...

With the discovery of interspecies hydrogen transfer in the late 1960s (Bryant et al. in Arch Microbiol 59:20–31, 1967), it was shown that reducing the partial pressure of hydrogen could cause mixed acid fermenti...

Efficient deconstruction and bioconversion of solids at high mass loadings is necessary to produce industrially relevant titers of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. To date, only a few studies have invest...

Xylans are the most abundant noncellulosic polysaccharides in lignified secondary cell walls of woody dicots and in both primary and secondary cell walls of grasses. These polysaccharides, which comprise 20–35...

Hydrothermal pretreatment using liquid hot water (LHW) is capable of substantially reducing the cell wall recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass. It enhances the saccharification of polysaccharides, particul...

The DOE BioEnergy Science Center has operated as a virtual center with multiple partners for a decade targeting overcoming biomass recalcitrance. BESC has redefined biomass recalcitrance from an observable phe...